Can You Play Badly Well?

"The worse you're performing, the more you must work mentally and emotionally. The greatest and toughest art in golf is playing badly well. All the true greats have been masters at it." -- Jack Nicklaus

There's no debating Jack Nicklaus had tremendous talent when it came to the game of golf. His 18 wins in golf's major events stands as a record that looks unbeatable at the moment.

Nicklaus was able to get the most from his talent, though, because of a mental grittiness that we can all learn from. When things didn't go well for him on the golf course, he was able to manage that. He didn't allow his frustration to spiral from one hole to the next.

Think for a minute about the power in that kind of mindset. When something doesn't go the way you wanted it to today -- and we all know that things don't go exactly the way we planned or hoped they would -- how are you going to respond? Will you allow a negative performance or outcome in the morning to spill over into the rest of your day? Or will you find a way to manage your emotions and play badly well?

Today, work on developing the ability to not let single events cascade into the rest of your day. Accept that you might not be feeling your best, or at your best and rather than be frustrated or angry about it, find a way to get through your tasks as best you can.